A Waltz of Loneliness
by RockShooter017
Summary: A weak, yet strong player. Lonely, yet had many great friends. She had many on her side, yet she never realized it. She never even realized what she was. She was suffering from one thing. Loneliness. Lucina. That was her name. Close friends with Lizbeth and Asuna, and had a sibling-like relationship with Kirito. She has so many people... So why is she so lonely ?
1. Chapter 1

**Yay~ like most people, this is my first posted fanfic. Honestly, I don't really think it's that good but I still feel a bit confident about it. I'm not even sure if it's really funny... Since I'm usually Lazy, I'll probably update a few times a week. Enough of my babbling...**

**Enjoy~!**

* * *

_Sniff._

_Cough. _

_Sniff. _

_Cough, cough. _

_Sniff._

_I think it's coming..._

_Sniff, __sniff. _

"ACHOO— wait, it stopped..."

_Sniff._

_No, it's coming again..._

_Sniff—_

"OH WOULD YOU JUST STOP SNIFFING?!"

I winced at the loud voice of a certain pink haired blacksmith. Just to piss her off, I sniffed again, pulling the blanket wrapped around me tighter. I gave out small sneeze. "I can't help it..." I said in an offended manner, beginning to sniff again.

"She's right, Liz. Who would've known that you could get a cold in SAO?" the boy next to me, Kirito, commented, scrolling through his menu, trying to find something to cure my "cold".

"That doesn't mean she has to sniff every second!" the girl on the other side of me, Lizbeth, or Liz, shouted in response, crossing her arms.

The three of us were traveling in a party, looking for items to forge a new blade for me as my old one broke to pieces after I was playing around in Lizbeth's workshop. I don't know how, but I had gotten the cold. Maybe Kayaba wasn't happy enough about all of us being stuck in a freaking game where you can actually die that he had to add colds.

Seriously, colds?

Anyway, I was partied up with Kirito, aka "The Black Swordsman", who wielded twin blades and was literally covered in black, and Lizbeth, aka "The girl who likes to nag about everything I do", who was the black smith, meaning she was the one to forge my new blade, and she was completely pink, even her hair.

I sneezed once again as Kirito patted my back to make sure I was okay. I gripped the blanket tighter as a gush of wind passed by in the cold area.

Speaking of the area...

"WHY THE HELL ARE WE IN A FREAKING BLIZZARD WHILE I HAVE A COLD?!" I shouted, realization finally hitting me. We were walking through the West Mountain on the 55th floor. The place was extremely cold as I wore two layers under my blanket.

"WHERE ELSE ARE WE SUPPOSED TO CHECK?!" Lizbeth shot back.

"I DON'T KNOW, A FOREST?!"

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU GONNA FIND METAL IN A FOREST?!"

Our argument continued until Kirito pushed us away. "Could you two be any louder? We're here to find metal, so lets find metal," he said in a harsh tone, me and Lizbeth giving a "Yes...".

...

_Sniff._

"OH ARE YOU SERIOUS—"

"Hey, Liz calm down! Lucina, try your best to just stop sniffing!"

"WHY IS SNIFFING SO HARD TO HANDLE?! I HAVE A COLD!"

"Lucina, relax! You, too, Liz!"

"IS IT THAT BAD TO HOLD IT IN?!"

"WHY IS IT SO ANNOYING?! I HAVE A DAMN COLD!

"Lucina!"

"A COLD MY ASS!"

"Liz!"

"YOU"RE JUST JELLY BECAUSE I'M GOOD ENOUGH TO HAVE A COLD!"

"LIKE HELL I AM!"

"CAN THE TWO OF YOU JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP?!"

...

___..._

___Did Kirito..._

_just curse? _

I probably haven't known him for that long, but I _never _heard him cuss or yell (with the exception of him yelling like crazy in battle), so this was pretty surprising for both me and Lizbeth.

We knew exactly what to do.

We closed our mouths and gave him a ninety-degree bow.

"We're sorry."

"Thought so."

* * *

I shivered under my blanket as a cold gush wind passed by, brushing my long, black hair. In total, my hair landed just above my hips and had a blue hue to it.

My sky blue eyes wandered around as I sat on the cold snow. My usual black jacket was covered over a blanket and a winter coat given by the SAO system. My jacket was zipped down to my waist. On the top of my left sleeve was a white gauze tied around as it came with the jacket.

Underneath, I wore black shorts that were barely hidden with my jacket. A black black belt was placed over my coat and hung around my waist. On it was a slot to the place the sheath of my sword, which I didn't have just yet. I wore yet another belt under, but it was white and went through inside my jacket, then came out.

Over my legs, I wore black knee-high boots and a simple black piece of string tied around my neck like a necklace.

I pulled my knees closer to my chest for warmth. I sat in front of a blazing fire as Kirito and Lizbeth wandered around to look for metal, Kirito saying things like "It's better if you two are separated while on this trip.". It seems that both of them had already been around this area.

"I'm hungry..." I muttered as I scrolled through my menu, rocking back and forth. "When are they gonna come back...?" I started to feel lonely. Having to no one to argue with, I grabbed a nearby stick and poked the fire continuously.

Of course I had to stay behind. I didn't even have a weapon to fight with.

Hearing footsteps coming, I hurriedly set up my sleeping bag and slid in, closing my eyes immediately. Waiting for them to reach the fire, I began to drift into thought.

_I wonder if they already collected the metal..._

_They should've at least let me watch._

_But then again..._

_I'd probably die due to me being an idiot._

I mentally sighed

_Tch, I'm not _that _weak._

_...Am, I? _

"Hey, Lucina..."

I continued to act like I was sleeping as Kirito's call reached my ears.

"Hmm... seems like she's asleep."

Lizbeth's voice came in, "I guess she's finally tired from all that yelling, huh?" I could almost hear the smirk behind her words.

"You were yelling, too."

"Oh, shut up."

The more I began to act, the more sleepy I was actually getting. From time to time, I could only hear bits of their conversation. My hand twitched once last time before it stopped. My head rested on the pillow as I fell asleep, not being able to hear Kirito's and Lizbeth's last words.

* * *

_A young girl drew her blade. Her hair was covered within the hood of her black jacket. She pulled the hilt that was strapped to her belt. Only the hilt was in her hands, but seconds later, she gave the it a swing, the blade magically sliding out. The girl's electrifying blue eyes glared at the figure that stood in front of her._

**"Please..."**

_It was a boy. He was covered in black also. He drew out two blades from their sheaths hanging on his back. One sword was black, and the other a icy green blue. His pale black eyes stared blankly at the girl's blue eyes as he got in position._

**"Stop the time..."**

_The girl said no words as she dashed to the boy, attempting to take a hit to his neck._

**"and save me..."**

_The boy blocked it, catching her blade in between his two swords._

**"Save me..."**

_The girl quickly retreated her blade and stepped back, the sword glowing a bright blue. She aimed at his legs, grunting as he dodged._

**"Save me..."**

_He continued to act as if nothing had happened. He stepped aside, then brought his swords across each other, slicing skin off the girl's waist. Her red blood stained both his swords and the side of his cheek. He tried to take another hit to her ankle and bring her down, but failed as she elbowed him in the stomach._

**"Save me..."**

_Seeing as how he fell down, the girl regained her posture from the earlier hit and kicked the boy's chest away, twirling the sword in her hands as she walked up to him._

_Calming, he jumped up at an unbelievable speed and swiftly pierced his blade through her stomach._

**"Save me..."**

_As if it wasn't a thing, the girl pulled out the blade, hesitantly, and dropped it to the ground, trying to avoid looking at the red liquid flowing from her body._

_He seemed to have an apologetic look on his face as he realized what he done. He dropped his other sword down as he stopped attacking the injured girl._

**"Save me..."**

_"I'm sorry..." a small voice came from within the boy's lips. It was barely audible, but she still heard it._

_She showed an angry face as she slowly brought up her sword. Frustrated, she swung her blade furiously, taking a cut to his blood-stained cheek._

**"Save me..."**

_The boy showed no emotion as red blood trailed down his newly formed scar._

_"Stop it..." she muttered, her dark locks shadowing over her eyes. "Attack me, you dumbass!" _

**"Save me!"**

I shot my eyes open. I paid no attention to the two sleeping bodies that slept on each side of me. I breathed hard as rivers of sweat trailed down my forehead. I grabbed my chest, trying to calm my racing heart down. I soon found my hand clenching my jacket as my chest felt uneasy. I stared down with wide eyes, my blue orbs no longer bright.

"Save... me..?"

* * *

The footsteps of our party echoed through the empty mountain. Much to Lizbeth's relief, my cold had went down, meaning that my sniffing has lessen. I finally placed the blanket and coat away in my inventory as my cold was almost completely gone. I pulled my hood over my head. It was still a bit cold.

Trying to get rid of the awkward silence, I asked, "So, did you two get the metal?"

"What do you think we're doing now?" Lizbeth snapped.

Kirito sighed. "Hey now, you two..."

I looked away, offended. "Geez... I'm so sorry."

"Don't worry about it, Lucina." Kirito patted my head. "Liz's just pissed because the last time we fought this boss, _she_ fell into a pit." He laughed.

Lizbeth turned around as she was walking in the front. "Clearly, you fell in, too!"

"Correction, I jumped in to save you."

"You didn't do anything!"

"You landed on top of me!"

"So, what? Isn't it the guy's role to be the cushion?!"

I sat awkwardly in the middle of their fight, confused. Threats flew back and forth between them as I just sat there. I didn't know a thing about what they were talking about, but I think it had to do something with the time Kirito needed a second blade.

Through the rude comments, I could make out that Kirito needed another sword so he asked Lizbeth for help. They attempted to fight the quest boss and collect metal, but Lizbeth's jacked up thinking that the battle was over when it wasn't, causing to boss to attack her and blow her into a pit, Kirito coming in to save her. Then...

I couldn't put anything else together as this was the part were most of the rude comments were.

"Ummmm... could we please get going? I really need a sword..." I muttered quietly, scared to death.

Surprisingly, the two said nothing and followed along.

* * *

Like before, I was told to stay behind. Once again, I had my winter coat and blanket wrapped around me as my cold has risen. I sneezed before sitting down and leaning against the icy walls.

I could hear the yells of Kirito and, occasionally, Lizbeth. I began to fiddle with my blanket as I waited. "I wonder when they'll be done..." I looked up at the pale and grey sky. Although it was day, it looked so dark. I continued to stare up. It's not everyday you see a grey sky.

I pulled my knees closer to me, trying to grab as much warmth I could. I let out a sigh, my warm breath visible through the icy fog.

Rubbing my hands together, I heard Lizbeth cry, "YOU IDIOT!". Worried, I got up and ran towards to battle area. Then I heard Kirito yell, also.

"YOU'RE THE OWNER, YOU SHOULD'VE KNEW THIS!"

"YOU'RE THE ONE WHO GAVE THEM TO ME!"

"THEY'RE YOURS, NOT MINE!"

Again, I was completely confused.

Not at what they were talking about.

No.

Kirito was yelling like a psycho again.

Really, Out-of-Character Kirito was seriously staring to freak me out.

Due to my fear, I stayed next to the wall, not bothering to check on them. I watched as the two slowly walked towards me. Both of their health bars were in the yellow area. Kirito had a few scratches here and there. They both had completely pissed off faces.

Stuttering, I said, "Wh-What happened...?"

"THERE'S FREAKIN' METAL AT THE SHOP!" they yelled in unison.

_Wow._

_Psycho people are..._

_psycho._

* * *

I patiently waited outside Lizbeth's shop. Ever since I broke my blade (and some of hers), I was told to stay outside until I was finally trusted to come back in. I fiddled with my hair as I sat down on a nearby bench, swinging my legs back and forth. My eyes found their way to the shop. The sound of clashing metal could be heard through the doors. Lizbeth was forging my new swords, Kirito with her.

Somehow, they managed to find metal. It was the same type of metal Lizbeth used to create Kirito's sword; Crystllite Ingot. It seems that the first time they went to the West Mountain, they collected more than enough metal needed, Lizbeth being the one to keep it. Then, while fighting the boss the second time, the two finally realized that Lizbeth sill had the metal in stock. Thus, creating that crazy argument that got Kirito going psycho again.

I sighed and pulled myself off the bench. I walked around for awhile, finally stopping at a nearby lake. The pink sky reflected onto the water, creating a beautiful scene. I skipped to the bridge on top of the lake and soundlessly hopped onto the ledge.

I brought my knees to my chest, looking up at the sky which would soon be a dark blue.

_I wonder why..._

_Why do I feel..._

_so lonely?_

"Yo."

The voice startled me. I released me legs, letting them dangle off the ledge. I turned my head to the intruder. "What, it's just you?" My shoulders relaxed as I realized who it was, turning my head back from the black haired boy to look at the shinning lake.

Kirito leaned against the wall of the bridge, resting his chin onto his palm. "It's beautiful, isn't it?" he asked, referring to the area.

"Yeah." I smiled. "It's amazing how real this world looks." I pulled my knees up once again. "Sometimes, my mind just fools itself, thinking that this world is really there. That my body in reality is really here."

_Is it wrong..._

_that I think of this place as my home?_

_It's so much better..._

_then the "home" I don't even remember. _

"Hey."

Kirito's voice brought me back to reality. I pulled myself away from my thoughts as I heard the bells of Kirito's menu. "What is it?" I asked.

"Liz told me to give this to you." He tapped a slot in his inventory, a small hilt of a sword gleaming as he caught it in his hands.

It was a shinning dark green-blue. Sticking out of the handle were two bars that separated it into two section, meaning that I would have to hold the handle with one finger inserted into the top slot, and the other three into the lower one.

"It's yours." He handed it to me as I stared in disbelief.

"..."

"..."

"Kirito,"

"Hm?"

"This is a handle."

He sighed, placing the object in my hands. He playfully smacked my forehead with the back of his hand. "No, it's not."

I didn't bother to rub the now sore area. "Um... I think it is."

"It's a sword."

"It's a handle."

He sighed again.

"How am I supposed to fight with this?"

"You really are an idiot."

Ignoring his rude comment, I looked blankly at the hilt.

_I guess I could smack people with this, too._

Trying to be cool, I twirled the handle in between my fingers. After getting my fingers tired, I position my fingers appropriately into the slots and swung it dowm, almost as if my body itself thought the handle was a blade.

As if on cue, something shinned and slid out of a opening in the handle, It was...

a blade?

The blade was a shinning silver, almost transparent. Identical to the handle, the blade had a light green-blue hue to it. The blade was like it was magically glued onto the handle.

I stared at it in confusion. "What the hell...?" I touched the cold metal, expecting it to fall off. "How..?"

"It seems that this sword has a special skill to it." Kirito continued to lean against the bridge. "Liz and I were pretty confused when that was the only thing that popped up."

_I bet you two went psycho during that time... _

"What's it's name?" I asked, still analyzing the blade. I didn't bother to tap the sword to find info as someone was right next to me.

"Artemis. Do you know what it means?"

I've studied a bit on mythology in real life... I think. I mostly was attached on the stories between the greek goddess and gods, meaning that I knew what this name had meant perfectly.

"Artemis; the young hunting goddess of virginity and the moon."

Kirito laughed shallowly. "Fits perfectly doesn't it?"

"Yeah." I smiled and twirled the hilt up, the blade sliding in the open area. I effortlessly placed it into a open strap on my belt. "Well, I guess I'll get going now." My eyes found its way to the newly dark sky. "See ya later." I waved Kirito goodbye as I walked away to find an inn.

"Yeah. See you..."

* * *

_"Why are you being like this?" a young boy, the same boy from earlier, asked to the same girl in front of him. Blood had stopped flowing from the cut he received from the girl and had fully healed to only seem like a small scratch._

_"It's because of you..." she muttered, a sorrow look on her face. Like the boy, her wounds were gone. "that I suffered so much..." She weakly dropped to her knees. "If it wasn't for you... I wouldn't have been..." She grabbed her head as she held back small tears. "It would've been so much easier that way. For me... For everybody..."_

_"Don't say that!" the boy shouted in anger._

_"What would you know?!" she yelled back, standing up once again. "I wouldn't have to deal with all this pain if you didn't even exist!" She suddenly grabbed her blade and charged at him with thinking or saying another word, surprising him a bit._

_The boy tried to remain calm as he picked up his blades to block hers as she was clearly aiming for his face. He gave her a kick to her ankle, knocking her down. She paid no attention to it and stabbed her sword to the ground, using it to gain __support. She jumped back up and aimed again, failing as the boy dodged and took a hit to her shoulder._

_The girl stepped back and grabbed her now injured shoulder. "Why does it have to be this way? From the beginning, you were always stronger than me." She laughed almost creepily, her hair shadowing over her face as her arms went limp. "It'll always be that way, too..."_

_"What are you saying..?"_

_He was cut off as the girl let out a cry before running up to take a hit on him._

_"You're such a fool..."_

_He effortlessly swung one of his swords up, The screeching sound of metal piercing both of their ears. He used all his strength to hit against her blade, thus, knocking her weapon out of her hand._

_She stared at him emotionlessly as her blade flew into the air and dropped to the ground, a loud clang from the blade crashing onto the ground roaring though the silence._

_The boy continued to show no emotion. He swung his sword down, attempting to take a slice at her head, but stopped right before he could even touch a strand of her hair._

_The girl unknowingly flinched, but soon opened her eyes to meet the boy's dark ones, microscopic tears forming in her eyes._

_"Just... Kill me, will you?" _

* * *

"Ugh..." I lazily rose up from my tangled sleeping position, the sheets gently falling off my bed. My hand found it's was to my dark locks, brushing them away as I sighed. I looked over at the sun through the window. It was daytime. I groaned.

"What the hell kind of freaky dream was that?"

* * *

**Review~!**


	2. Chapter 2

I lazily walked out of my room. Last night, I stayed in an inn. Like most players, I decided to sleep around in inns as I have no one to buy a house with. not to mention, I was low on money.

I ignored the greeting NPC at the front counter and pushed the inn door open. Stretching out my back and arms, I headed to Lizbeth's shop as I was on the same floor and had nothing to do. I hummed a song as I started to walk. Around ten minutes later, I finally reached the pink-heads shop.

"I wonder what this idiot's doing now..." I muttered, pushing the door to the small shop open. The bells hanging above the door rang as a voice came to my ears.

"Welcome to Lizbeth's workshop!" the blacksmiths greeted, almost sounding like a NPC.

"Yo."

"Ugh, it's just you."

"It's nice to see you, too," I replied sarcastically, deciding to ignore the disgusted look on her face she was giving me. "So, whatcha doing today?" I asked, walking up to one of Lizbeth's sword that was hung up on the room as I ran one of my fingers across the cold metal.

"Don't tough my swords!" She sighed, calming herself down, then finally explained, "I was sharpening a friend's sword."

"A friend's?"

"Liz!"

The shop's backdoor opened, a young girl walking out. She had long, chestnut hair, some strands braided to the back of her head where it was tied into a small ponytail. Her outfit was mostly a pure white, some red designs coming out. The color scheme presented the name of the most strongest and largest guild, Knights of the Blood Oath.

_I know you... _

"The Flash?" I said aloud without thinking.

_Why is The Flash _here_?_

_Why is she even friends with Lizbeth?_

Honestly, this girl was amazing. She fought like a total beast, her rapier unleashing about eight attacks per second. She was named after this Sword Skill, which I had forgotten the name of since I used a one-handed longsword, that shone a bright green when in use.

The Flash, named as Asuna, smiled in embarrassment. "Good morning, I'm Asuna, though, you probably already knew that..." she greeted, trying to whisper the last part, but I heard it anyway.

"Yeah. I think that _everyone _knows that..." I muttered under my breath.

"It's nice to meet you!" Asuna said in a very cheerful and happy voice, extending her hand out to me for me to shake.

I gladly accepted it, replying with, "Lucina. It's nice to meet you, too." Although I still said it in a happy tone, it lacked some cheerfulness as I always was gloom when meeting new people. "Anyway..." I walked up to Asuna, forming my hand into a cup as I whispered in her ear, "Why are you friends with _her_? Did she do something to you so that you would befriend her?"

"Hey, I heard that!"

"Jk, jk." I laughed, pulling myself away from a slightly confused Asuna. "So, Asuna-san, where are you heading off to?"

"No where in particular, I was just heading home." she replied with a kind smile, grabbing her rapier that stood on Lizbeth's counter and sliding it into it's sheath.

Liz joined in the conversation. "Why don't you take her? She seems bored."

_I know you're trying to get rid of me._

I tried my best to hold that remark back.

"That right!" Asuna grabbed my hands. "We should visit my house!"

You don't know how happy I was when she said that. I had the chance to visit the house of a K.O.B member. Wasn't that awesome? I was imagining just how big her house was just for her, and her alone, could possibly be.

_I bet it's the size of a mansion! _

"Well, I had some plans with someone, but I'll just cancel them." Asuna said, flipping her hair over her shoulder as we walked out of Lizbeth's little workshop.

"Are you sure?"

She laughed with a big smile. "Yeah! It's not like he'll be _that _anxious to party with me!" Although she said that with a positive tone, I could almost hear the negative behind it.

"Hahaha..."

I tried my best to laugh off the feeling that Asuna didn't really like this guy.

* * *

"Achoo!"

The Black Swordsman, Kirito, gave out a small sneeze. It was similar to the sneeze of a cat. Quiet, yet loud. He rubbed his nose gently as he looked around, surprised that he sneezed out of nowhere.

"Somebody's talking about me..." he muttered to himself.

He walked over to a bench in the small town he was in. Sitting down, he sighed. "Where is she?" the swordsman whispered. Then, a ring came to his ears, signaling that a new message was sent to him. He quickly opened his player menu and tapped on the message icon. Without thinking, he read the message aloud.

"**Message from:** Asuna

**Subject:** Sorry~!

**Recipient: **Kirito

Sorry, I cant make it! I found someone else to play with today~

We're heading to my house to get to know each other. She's funny

and isn't awkward at all (like you). Anyway, sorry I couldn't

party with you today. Let's try another time~!"

Kirito sighed, face palming. "What with that girl? It's like she was rubbing it in my face. She thinks just beacuse I'm a solo that I can't make friends... And she just insulted me. It's not my fault I'm so socially awkward..." he muttered, leaning back on the bench. "Oh, I think Lucina's free. It's not like she does anything anyway."

Boredom was killing the boy as he anxiously typed in his new message.

**Message from:** Kirito

**Subject:** You free?

**Recipient:** Lucina

Hey, are you doing anything? Just got rejected from a friend and want to have

someone to party with. So how about it?

_Send._

_Ring~! _

**Message** **from: **Lucina

**Subject:** Re: You free?

**Recipient: **Kirito

Sorry, buddy! I'm hangin' around with my new friend,

so I can't come and play with you today. I hope you don't feel

lonely or anything. That would be bad. But cheer up!

I'll be free sometime the next day (maybe)!

Kirito groaned as he collapsed flat on the bench, ignoring the weird stares coming from everyone near him. Though it wasn't because of how Lucina rejected his offer that made him gloomy, or the fact that he got rejected _twice..._

It was how quickly Lucina responded.

It made him think that she immediately rejected his offer the second she saw his message.

Not to mention how fast she typed.

Finally, he got up, regaining his posture. "What am I doing? I'm a solo. I should be doing this alone." He walked away, heading for a dungeon across the street. Though while walking, he couldn't help but give out a small, cute sneeze.

* * *

_A girl wandered around the Town of Beginnings in the new VRMMO, Sword Art Online. She had short black hair that reached her chin along with gem-like pink eyes. She wore a simple outfit of grey and white as the game had only began an hour ago. She looked around, a confused look on her face._

_She was lost._

_Like most beginners, she was timid and couldn't find to courage to speak to the beta tester or even ask a NPC. Deciding to give up, she bought a random sword that seemed to be strong enough for her and wandered to one of the fields outside the town._

_"So, how do I do this?" she asked herself, holding the blade in her hand. She positioned to blade in both her hands and striked a position, trying to look cool, but gave up as she thought she looked lame. _

_She sighed. "What am I supposed to do?" She ran her fingers through her dark locks._

_"Need help?"_

_The voice gave her a shock as she thought she was alone. She turned around to meet two men. One with long red hair wearing a bandana around his head and the other standing behind him with dark black hair similar to the girl's._

_"Kinda..." she replied, rubbing the back of her neck in embarrassment. "I'm new to this game... Are you two beta testers?"_

_"Not me, he is, though." The one with red hair pointed to the man behind him._

_"H-Hey.." He awkwardly waved at the girl. "I-I'm Kirito..."_

_She smiled. "It's nice to meet you, Kirito-san. I'm Lucina. And you are?" she greeted, then turned to the man with red hair._

_"My name's Klein!" he replied in a confident and cheerful tone, pointing his thumb to himself. "It nice to meet you!"_

_For the next hour of so, the party continued to train. Instead of having Klein teaching Lucina how to use the Sword Skills, like how she though it would be, it was Kirito. Though he was very awkward when he had to show her the right way to hold the blade in order to activate the skill. From time to time, they'd joke around and laugh, but then continued to work._

_Klein collapsed on the ground as he looked at the orange sky. Kirito stood next him as Lucina sat legs crossed on a rock nearby._

_"I still cant believe it, no matter how many times I see it..." Klein said._

_"That we're in a game?" Lucina replied as she laid down on the rock with her arms as her only pillow. "Whoever made this place is a total genius, though."_

_"It really is amazing..." __Klein gave out a sigh as he relaxed his shoulders. "Seriously, I'm glad I was born in this time."_

___"You two make a big deal out of everything." Kirito gave out a small smile._

___"Well, it's our first full dive." Lucina finally got back up to her sitting position as her back was getting cramped from the hard edges of the rock. "We aren't beta testers like you are, Kirito-san."_

___"Honestly, during the beta test," Kirito took____out his blade from its sheath on his back. "SAO was all I though about, day and night." Taking a good look at his sword, he continued. "In this word, a single blade can take you anywhere you want to go. It's a virtual world, but I still feel more alive here than I do in reality." He placed his sword back, looking towards the two beginners once again. "Now then, want to hunt some more?"_

___"Of course!" Klein and Lucina yelled in unison. _

___But then, a growl came from Klein's stomach. "I'd love to, but I'm really hungry..."_

___"Wow." Lucina laughed. "Eating food here only makes you think you're not hungry, so it's best you log out."_

___"I already ordered a pizza for 5:30!" _

___"You're prepared, alright."_

___"Yup! Well, once I've eaten, I'll be back."_

___"I see." Kirito looked towards Lucina in hope she'd stay. "What about you, Lucina?"_

___"I'm like any normal student. I have chores and school work to do." She hopped off the rock and stretched her arms. "But, I have plenty of time, so I wont be heading off so soon."_

___"Anyway," Klein walked up to Kirito and placed a hand on his shoulder. "I'll repay you sometime. Mentally."_

___Lucina scoffed. "What about me?"_

___"You didn't even do anything, I came in to help you!" He laughed then walked away, not before giving the two left behind a wave. He laughed shallowly, pulling down his player menu._

___Kirito turned back to the shorter girl next to him. "So, wanna head off now?"_

___"Yeah." She nodded. _

___"Huh?" _

___Kleins confused voice forced the two to look back at him, already thinking that he logged out. _

___"There's no log out button..."_

___"Take a look closer,"Kirito suggested._

___He scanned the menu once again. "Nope, it's not here."_

___"Are you sure?" Lucina asked, getting a bit worried._

___Kirito walked up to the red head and pulled down his own menu. Realization hit him as he realized his menu was missing the button, too._

___"See? Not there."_

___"Lucina, check your menu."_

___The short haired girl did as told, only to shake her head. "Same results." Upon the tense atmosphere Kirito was making, Lucina tried to bright it up with a bit sarcasm in her voice. "Well, It's the first day out of the beta. There're bound to be some bugs."_

___"I bet the people are freaking out..." Klein laughed awkwardly._

___Kirito'd face didn't change as he looked from his menu to Klein. "In a second, you'll be, too." He pointed to his clock._

___"Oh, the time..." Lucina blurted out._

___"It's 5:25."_

___"Ah." It took him a few seconds for that fact to register into his brain. He then started screaming, "Ah! My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger alae!", with his hands on his head._

___"Teriyaki?" Lucina asked, confused on what was happening._

___"Let's just hurry and call the game master," Kirito suggested once again._

___Seeing as how Klein refused to stop making a big deal out of his pizza, Lucina replied instead. "I tried, but nothing's happening... Is there any other way to log out?"_

___"There isn't," Kirito said. "If a player wants to log themselves out, they have to go through the menu."_

___"That's nuts," Klein remarked, finally getting over his pizza. "There's gotta be some way." He started doing weird gestures that Kirito or Lucina didn't even know. "Return! Log out! Escape!"_

___"I told you..." Kirito spoke just above a whisper as Klein stopped, seeming like he was going paranoid. "There wasn't an emergency logout in the manual, either..."_

_______Suddenly, the clouds covered the setting sun as Lucina looked around, both worried and paranoid of what might happen. "You're kidding, right?"_

_______"I know.." Kleins once again did more gestures, but this time grabbing onto his head. "I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head..."_

_______"You cant." Kirito made no movement as he stared at Klein seriously. "We can't move our real bodies."_

_______"The hell...?" Lucina whispered to herself. "If we can't log out..."_

_______Then the bells rang in the Town of Beginning rang. The loud sound pounded into the three's ears. It continued to echo through the field, moving back and forth as the rings continued to come._

_______If was if it was telling them..._

_______"You cannot escape". _

* * *

"Luci-chan~!"

Asuna's loud and cheerful voice brought me back to reality. I looked around, finally realized just where I was. I was in Asuna's huge house. I was changed into my normal clothing; a plain grey shirt, black shorts and flats, and a dark navy blue cardigan. Asuna was in a light green and white blouse, red ribbons tied at her sleeves, and a dark blue mini skirt.

"L-Luci-chan?" I asked, slightly confused at what she called me.

"It's your new nickname for me!" Asuna laughed. "So, what do you want for lunch?" she asked me in happily, swaying back and forth.

_That's right... I came to Asuna house. _

"A-Anything's fine," I replied.

"Okay~!"

_But what was that?_

I couldn't get that scene with Kirito, Klein, and... was that me? Anyway, I couldn't get it out of my mind.

_Was it a memory?_

_B-But I don't really remember it..._

_Did it really happen?_

_Eh, I'll just ask Kirito or Klein about it later. _

I shrugged off the feeling and turned back to Asuna, who was now cooking a meal for both of us as I gave out a yawn.

_But I really am having weird dreams lately..._

_First that boy and girl who were fighting each other, and now this._

_Seriously, what's happening to me?_

* * *

I slowly limped to Selmburg's Teleport Gate, half-asleep. Currently, I had just left from Asuna's home as it was getting late. I took a look at the full moon before my blue eyes twitched when the sound of a ring came to my ears. "So... tired..." I muttered to myself. "Who the hell is messaging me at this time?" I finally reached the Teleport Gate, stepping in the middle while yawning.

_I'll just check the mail later..._

"Teleport... wait, what floor am I going to? Um... Teleport: Algade...?"

Before I had the time to rethink on what I said, a bright blue light blinded my eyes, indicating that I was being teleported to my said city. After a few seconds, I opened my eyes to the city on the 50th floor, Algade. It was just a random city that was the first place to pop up in my mind.

I honestly don't know why I even chose this city. It's completely packed, even at night, and it looked like I wouldn't even be able to exit an inn once I entered it.

Not to mention that you have to pay a NPC to escort you if you get lost.

My eyes wandered around.

_Eh, what the hell. _

I entered a random inn that was nearby without a second thought.

After getting a room from the NPC at the front counter, I opened the door to my new room for the night. I immediately ran to the bed and collapsed on it. It wasn't even two seconds when a loud sound rang through my ears.

_Stupid messages... _

I got back up and position myself in a sitting position, pulling down my player menu. "What do you want?" I mumbled under my breath. I now had two unread messages, probably from the same person. I quickly tapped on my messages icon, reading the oldest one first.

**Message from:** Kirito

**Subject: **Favor

**Recipient:** Lucina

Hey, sorry it's late, but I have a favor I need to ask you. Could you possibly

meet up with me?

I groaned before reading the next one.

**Message from:** Kirito

**Subject:** Stop ignoring me

**Recipient: **Lucina

I know your not asleep. Don't try to fool me, Lucina.

Just now, I saw you walking around in Algade.

In case you've forgotten, that's were I live. So could you please

stop slacking around and meet up with me?

I once again groaned. I lazily got up and left the room. While leaving the inn, I attempted to write back to Kirito. Although I was still half-asleep, I managed to fully type in the message without any grammar or spelling mistakes. Yawning, I pushed the send button.

**Message from: **Lucina

**Subject: **Re: Stop ignoring me

**Recipient: **Kirito

You just had to wake me up right when I fell asleep, huh?

Anyway, just think of this as my treat for not being

able to party with you today. So, where are you?

I sat down on a nearby bench. Within a matter of minutes, a reply came.

**Message from: **Kirito

**Subject: **Re: Re: Stop ignoring me

**Recipient:** Lucina

Thanks. I'm in the alley behind Agil's shop.

You better not troll me.

I sighed with a slight smile.

_He saw right through me. _

_It's kinda funny since Trolls exist in SAO, too. _


End file.
